Discovering Something New
by Dexter I. C. T. A. T. O. Reyes
Summary: Ikuto Tsukiyomi, an ordinary 17-year-old boy discovers he may not be as ordinary as he thought after a series of events at the time of a schoolmate's party. -discontinued-
1. Interference

**A/N:** After almost a year I'm writing fanfics again.

FAIL.

This was supposed to be an original story, but I changed it into a fanfic 'cause... just 'cause. -.-;;

Hope you like it! (My friends did, but they're biased. Well, most are.)

PS: I don't own SC.**

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1: Interference**  


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_Everyone has discovered something about themselves at one point or another. Maybe you discovered that you are actually half Chinese. Maybe you discovered that you don't look much like either of your parents. And maybe you discovered that you have a natural talent for dancing. Whatever it was you discovered, everyone has had this happen to them. Discovering something new about yourself can be a very exciting thing, but can also be a dreadful experience._

_You never know._

_A certain seventeen year old boy named Ikuto discovered something new about himself one day. Something that changed his life forever.

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_

It was the end of yet another school day and Ikuto and his best friend Kukai were already outside, their backpacks slung over their shoulders as they walked towards the school's exit.

"Yesss!" Kukai yelled, stretching the word as he did his arms. Kukai practically hated classes, but loved socializing. Even though his grades were close to failure, he managed to keep a goofy smile on his face despite the troubles of the life of a 17 year old.

Ikuto smiled at his best friend, who was now waving at people passing by as he instead shoved his hands into his pockets. Ikuto was pretty much the most popular guy in their school. Not only did he have the best grades, making the teachers adore him, but he was the best looking guy in school. His dark hair, mysterious violet eyes made practically every girl wanted to date him.

While walking back to their streets, Kukai popped a question. "Hey, are you going to Fuyuki's party today?"

It was a Friday and Fuyuki was the kind of guy that threw the best parties. Then again, he was rich and his house was huge, so it made sense. Somewhat lazily, Ikuto replied, "Yeah. My mom agreed and I didn't even bother asking my stepdad."

He looked away slightly when he said the word 'stepdad'. He said it with boredom, sadness, and a hint of anger. Kukai understood his actions. At age 13, Ikuto's father went missing, and was presumed dead, leaving him alone with his mother until she remarried to a man named Kazuomi Hoshina only a year after the incident. Ikuto never took a liking to him and always referred to him by his first name, proving that he did not accept him as a father.

"I don't get why you hate your stepdad so much," Kukai began. Ikuto looked ready to retort as he glared slightly at Kukai who added, "I mean—he's a pretty cool dude. Especially as far as dad's go."

Ikuto merely shrugged and the atmosphere got pretty quiet. Kukai, being the outgoing guy that he is, couldn't handle the silence for even a minute, and something popped into his head. "Hey Ikuto, did ya know that Reiko's gonna be at Fuyuki's?"

That caught his attention. Ikuto whipped his head around quickly when Kukai said the name 'Reiko'. Kukai was referring to Reiko Matsuda, a girl who was in the 11th grade with them, one of the prettiest girls in school, and coincidentally, the girl that Ikuto had a small crush on.

"Yeah, I heard," Ikuto blew it off like it was nothing before adding, "but I heard Saaya was coming too." He scoffed at the name.

Now Saaya was a whole different story. She was basically a nuisance. She'd been in love with Ikuto ever since she first met him and followed him everywhere. It wasn't that Ikuto hated her. It was that it got pretty annoying to have his own personal stalker who seemed to get in the way of spending time with the girl he actually remotely likes. "You know, you should just ask Reiko out already," Kukai suggested. "I mean, maybe if you do, Saaya will get the message and back off."

"Dude," Ikuto responded with an idle look on his face. "Why would someone like Reiko like me?"

Obviously Ikuto didn't get how that one sentence could be so wrong.

"Whoa, whoa, _whoa_," Kukai said, making hand gestures to add dramatic effect. "You're telling me that Reiko wouldn't like a guy like you?" He paused, letting Ikuto nod in confirmation.

"You're the most freakin' popular guy in school!!" Kukai yelled, flailing his arms around as Ikuto raised an eyebrow.

Kukai sensed Ikuto's disbelief and added, "No seriously! There is no way she wouldn't like you. Every single girl in this school likes you!"

Again, Ikuto seemed doubtful and wondered if he literally meant that last part. They attended the type of school where the Elementary, Middle and High school divisions were merged, but placed in separate buildings. Ikuto didn't think that even the Elementary and Middle school girls thought that about him.

Despite Ikuto's doubt, he shrugged and accepted Kukai's words as they stopped in front of his house. It was a pretty big house, but its size was nowhere near the Fuyuki's house. Although a person passing by could easily tell that whoever lived there had quite an amount of money. Before marching into his house and up to his room, Ikuto commented, "Fine. But only as long as Saaya doesn't interfere."

Kukai grinned, signalling that Saaya wouldn't be anywhere near him. Ikuto unlocked the door and waltzed into his house. His mother was sitting at the coffee table, drinking her tea and reading a novel with a bright yellow cover.

His mother smiled when she saw him. "Oh, there you are Ikuto! Are you still going to that party today?"

Ikuto walked over to her. He was always on good terms with his mother. It was his stepdad he didn't like. His coming along only made Ikuto a little more distant.

"Yeah, why?" was all he really said. His mother just kept smiling, making a gesture as if to say "it's nothing." Ikuto shrugged and walked up to his room. He was in a reasonably good mood for two reasons. One was that he was going to a party with a chance of getting the girl he likes and the second was that his stepdad wouldn't be back 'till Ikuto left the house.

The time until the party started flew by fast. Taking a nap after school was how Ikuto spent it. Before he knew it, he was already dressed for the party (quite casually as well) and at Fuyuki's house, holding a glass of punch while leaning against the wall, talking with some friends from school.

The party was very lively: there were brightly coloured lights flashing and moving in different patterns across the main room where everyone was. There was loud, upbeat music booming from the advanced sound system that Fuyuki's parents had bought him—Ikuto often wondered how he could work such a complicated piece of technology.

Despite how wild the party seemed, it wasn't like the parties you'd see on TV where everything got out of hand and the guests would break almost anything in sight. Instead, it was fun yet surprisingly under control.

Kukai was also at the party, though practically on the other side of the huge room. He was dancing with a group of friends through most of the party. About halfway into the party, he stopped dancing and walked over to the refreshment table.

There, Kukai saw Ikuto and immediately headed over to him, waving his hands to get his attention. Ikuto turned his head, averting his gaze from the group of students he was speaking with, to Kukai, who had already stopped waving his hands about wildly.

As Kukai strode toward him Kukai yelled something, loud enough that he would hear him over the music. "Dude!" he started. Ikuto seemed to be paying full attention to him as he continued, "Reiko's right over there!" Kukai motioned to what they called 'the spectator area' which was a designated area set up near the dance floor where people could sit at a bunch of tables to eat and talk.

At the table in the spectator area that Kukai pointed to, Reiko sat there giggling at something her friend said while a barely eaten plate of food sat in front of her. She was wearing a bright pink shirt with a cropped white cardigan and a pair of dark washed skinny jeans. Her chestnut brown hair was styled in a side ponytail.

Ikuto was already looking over at her as he replied, "So?"

"So?" Kukai repeated. "So get over there and ask her out already!"

Ikuto looked reluctant, but then Kukai added, "C'mon, you promised you would earlier as long as Saaya didn't interfere—and is she around? No. So hurry up and ask her before some other random guy does!"

Finally Ikuto gave in and started to make his way to Reiko, who was almost all the way across the room like Kukai was earlier in the party. It seemed quite far, especially since many people in his way were trying to talk to him.

He felt more nervous with each step. It was one thing to ask out the girl he likes, but it was another to be rejected. What with all the guys Reiko turned down, he was sure he'd end up one of them.

Finally, as Ikuto was almost at Reiko's table, his phone started vibrating, letting out a tone that resembled a doorbell chime. He took out his phone, sure that it was his mom, asking when he'd be back.

His eyes widened in both surprise and confusion. Suddenly, Kukai, who had been following him the whole time, popped out from behind Ikuto, who stopped in his tracks.

"Dude what the hell are you doing? You chickened out didn't you? Oh man, how many times do I have to tell you—" Kukai stopped, leaving his rant incomplete when he realized Ikuto was holding his new cellphone, which was opened and displaying a new message. Kukai leaned over to read the message, his brows furrowing in confusion. The sender was unknown and the phone number didn't show up on the screen.

_'Come to the park right now.'_

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**A/N:** Sorry if that sucked. Tell me if I should continue or not, 'cause I'd rather not continue a story that no one liked AT ALL.

Oh and just so you know:

- Fuyuki is the dude that had a crush on Rima (in case he's been forgotten already)  
- This isn't an Ikuto x OC story, 'kay? If it was I'd put it in the summary.  
- I didn't want to make Lulu or Utau the obsessed fan-freaks so I used Saaya.

Review please ~


	2. An Unexpected Visitor

**A/N:** Thank you animeluver714, ArtGrrl-Sunna Bluecat, mime-san, xXYoraXx and Ikutoluver995 for reviewing :D

I probably would have written this earlier, but I was sick for more than a week and wasn't supposed to use the computer (I was too tired to anyway). After I got better, I got busier with a bunch of things BUT I now have more time.

My teacher hardly gives homework anyway... but I still have piano so yeah.

mime-san: I'm updating now, aren't I? ^.^

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2: An Unexpected Visitor**  


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"Huh?" was the first thing Kukai said since he started following Ikuto, who now turned his head slightly to look at him. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Well, uh... I was—" he began. "Uh... you know what, never mind." Ikuto rolled his eyes at him. He could tell what his reasons were. Kukai had always been easy to read. "So you saw the text, right?" Ikuto clarified as Kukai nodded in slight embarrassment.

"Maybe it's from Saaya," he suggested after composing himself.

Ikuto looked perplexed. "I never gave her my number," he commented as Kukai almost immediately replied, "She could have got it from someone... Or maybe she looked you up on the internet! The little stalker!"

Ikuto let out a small chuckle at Kukai's last comment but then silence formed between them. It wasn't exactly the time for laughing. After a few moments, Kukai enquired, "So are you gonna go?"

"Dunno," Ikuto said truthfully. "Should I?"

"Yeah! Just see who it is. If it's from Saaya—who I'm pretty sure it is— then just go set her straight before asking Reiko out." Kukai responded with his regular grin.

Ikuto nodded and made his way out of Fuyuki's house. And despite how simple it sounded, doing that was no easy task. It was quite confusing to have to get past mobs of partying people in Fuyuki's maze of a house. It was a wonder no one in his family had ever gotten lost in it before. After passing at least a hundred people, he arrived at the exit, and no one seemed to notice he left.

The park was only a few blocks away. Ikuto sometimes walked there with Kukai after school. After what seemed like only a couple of minutes, Ikuto arrived at the section of the park with groups of trees and bushes. His eyes searched the environment around him. Suddenly, he heard a rustle of leaves in a bush.

_  
'This is so cliché,_' Ikuto thought. "Who's there?" he asked. Indeed, it was very cliché. Like in those movies on TV where people would mistake the sound for a monster or killer and find out it was just a rabbit. Or vice versa. He heard another noise and this time focused his gaze on the exact bush it was coming from. He waited for something to happen. The he saw a few leaves part only to reveal...

A cat?

It had pale gray fur that could easily be mistaken for black if not looked at closely enough. It seemed like any regular cat you'd see except for one particular thing. Its eyes. Although it was normal for cats to have yellow eyes, the cat's eyes had a more golden tone to it, making it look almost unnatural.

Unexpectedly, Ikuto found himself reaching for the cat, attempting to carry it in his arms. Strangely enough, before he could get close enough to it, he heard a voice yell, "Don't touch me!"

Ikuto immediately whipped his head around to find out where the voice came from. It was already dark out, but he could at least tell if anyone was there.

"Hey you!"

The voice came again. This time Ikuto paid more attention to it. It was the voice of a girl, probably a few years younger than him. It was commanding, supporting the words it spoke and wasn't as high as some girl voices you'd hear, but high enough to still be distinguished as a girl. The most peculiar thing about it was that the voice was coming from the direction of the cat.

It couldn't be, right? Cats couldn't talk. Of course not. At first Ikuto thought maybe there was a girl hiding behind the bush that the cat emerged from. But then, the voice was very close and surely, if a person was to be behind the bush, their voice would sound muffled in some way.

His thoughts were interrupted when the voice spoke again. "Hey you! Over here!"

The cat's mouth moved.

"Did you—" Ikuto started to say, looking at the cat, but then it cut him off and said, "Yeah it was me. Don't worry though; I'm not really a cat."

The voice sounded as if it were more interested in telling Ikuto something rather than reassuring him about the situation. Ikuto opened his mouth to say something, but then as if it could read his mind, the cat said, "Never mind about that. You'll find out what I am later. Right now you need to come with me."

This confused Ikuto. "Why do I need to come with you? And to where?" he asked.

The cat sighed. "I can only explain a little, the rest you'll find out later," she began. "You need to come with me to the Chara World, because we need your help."

"I'm sorry, but I'm not coming. I don't think I can help with this. I need to go back to the party and—"

Ikuto was cut off by the cat. "Is going to a party more important than saving a world and learning your past!?"

Although the cat managed to keep a monotone in her voice, Ikuto's refusal seemed to make her more frantic. "My past?" Ikuto repeated. "What about it?"

More annoyance glittered in the cat's eyes. "Well, in this world you've only been told a small part of your past. And I'm sure you'd want to know more of it." She said.

Ikuto suppressed a sigh. "Then can you at least tell me my past?"

"I was instructed not to tell... yet."

'What was she instructed to tell?' Ikuto thought, but then gave in. After all, his past was something he wanted to know more of. "Fine," he said. "I'll come with you."

The cat appeared to smile as she replied. "Good, now step through the portal." Suddenly there was a blinding white flash and a portal full of several different hues and colours appeared before them. Ikuto saw the cat leap into the portal, so not knowing what else to do; he followed her through the portal.

Going through the portal was like going through a tunnel made of nothing but light. In few short moments, Ikuto felt himself land on a hard surface. Fortunately, he landed on his feet, but it took him a while to balance himself.

"Come on," the cat said, motioning ahead of it.

"Where are we going?"Ikuto asked almost immediately.

"You'll see," were the only two words that the cat decided to utter. Ikuto sighed as he followed the cat. At the moment, he seemed to be in a forest of some kind, the trees around him just like around his neighbourhood, only...more alive somehow. All he could do was stare at them in wonder as he followed the cat. The time seemed to go by unusually fast. Partially because Ikuto spent it marveling at his surroundings.

Before he knew it, the cat stopped in front of a wall covered from top to bottom in vines and greenery of all sorts. A puzzled expression reached Ikuto's face. Why in the world would the cat lead him into a wall? The cat, as if reading his mind again, said, "Right now we are in Myrene Woods, one of the many connecting forests of the Magic World. Ahead of this wall is our destination, where I will take you to meet someone."

"Who?" Ikuto questioned, jokingly adding, "Your owner or something?"

The cat, clearly not taking the joke well, shot him a glare. "I told you I'm _not _really a cat. I'm not a pet or slave. And you're going to meet my mentor."

Ikuto shrugged as the cat disappeared into bushes briefly. A loud clicking noise was heard before her head reappeared and said, "Hurry up."

"Uh, yeah," he mumbled, following the cat, realizing that there was a gate hidden beneath all the plants.

As soon as he went through the gate, a bright light shone on his face, like when you draw the curtains on a sunny morning. Once his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw a city before him. Or rather, a village.

It looked just like any other village he would see travelling, but it had more of a fairy tale look to it. Another thing was the people. They looked like regular people, only dressed differently. They looked like the witches and wizards Ikuto read about in stories, only more modern. He even saw a girl turn a guy into a frog with a wave of her hand.

All of it was incredible in Ikuto's eyes, though the cat snapped him out of his trance. "Hey Ikuto, hurry up! I haven't got all day," she scolded. Ikuto nodded and continued to follow her.

They passed by many streets and people, even more wondrous plants and creatures before the cat stopped once again. This time she stopped in front of a small house. The foundation and walls of it looked plain and simple, but the roof looked strange, like two fairy wings placed at an angle on top of a box.

The cat pranced inside. The main room was almost as strange as the roof. There was smooth stone flooring like what you'd see on someone's patio and the walls looked exactly like the sky outside. It was like you never really entered the house. They turned to see a young man enter the room. He wore a white dress shirt and dark pants. His hair was blond and neatly styled, and he had a friendly expression, like those people who seemed happy _all_ the time.

The man seemed to have noticed Ikuto come in, as he smiled warmly and said, "Ah, I see you have decided to visit."

_  
'More like I was dragged here by a cat,'_ thought Ikuto. He just nodded as the man motioned for him to sit in a nearby sofa. He agreed and cautiously did as he was told, sitting down as the cat rushed over to the man's side.

"Well, young man, I am known as different things around these parts, but my name is Tsukasa Amakawa," he commented. "And this," he continued, gesturing to the cat, "is Amu."

Then, Tsukasa turned to face Amu. "Amu," he said. "You may show this boy your true form."

Ikuto's eyes moved toward Amu awaiting her to transform or something, but she didn't seem very willing. "Can't I just stay like this?" she pleaded stubbornly, but Tsukasa gave her a stern look. She grunted and gave in. "Fine."

Moments later, a bright flash of pink surrounded the small cat, getting larger with each passing second until it changed size so that it was around the height of Ikuto's shoulder, maybe a tad shorter.

As the light began to dissolve, he could see the figure of a person, and in mere seconds, he knew what Amu _really_ looked like. Standing before him was a girl that looked like the age of twelve or thirteen, her height around 5 feet, her eyes were just like when she was a cat, an interesting shade of gold, while her hair, unlike her fur as a cat, was bubblegum pink. Her hair cascaded down her shoulders, some lingering in front of her shoulders and her bangs were styled in a front fringe. A red X-clip was placed in her hair, holding up a small ponytail.

Amu was wearing what looked like a school uniform of some sort. She wore a white dress shirt with a red tie hanging loosely around the collar of her shirt. Over top was an open black blazer with a red band on her left arm. She also had on a plaid red and black skirt with matching legwarmers and black flats. He saw a chain hanging from her neck as well, but the pendant, if even there was one, was tucked into her shirt.

Her arms were crossed as she stood putting more weight on her right foot. She was quite unhappy and she looked away from Ikuto. "There," she said. "Happy?"

Tsukasa and Ikuto both nodded. Before anyone could say anything, they heard a yell from outside. It was muffled, but Ikuto was able to make out that whoever was shouting just said, "Ouch!"

Tsukasa switched his gaze from Amu to the door, and opened it, only to reveal a boy that looked about Ikuto's age, on the ground rubbing the back of his head. Even without looking at the boy's messy auburn hair, or looking closely at his face, Ikuto immediately knew who it was.

"Kukai!?"

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**A/N:** I didn't really like this chapter... in fact I don't really like how I started this story off. It feels rather rushed; most of my stories end up like that. It also feels fairly amateur. I'll try to improve as I go through the story, though.


	3. A History Lesson

**A/N:** I would've updated this earlier (like on the weekend) but I was on a short vacation.

So thanks to those who reviewed, favourite and alerted :)

And to those who reviewed, since I didn't have time to reply then, I will reply here (-.-):

To Cg2. nenetwin: Ehe... I thought it was kinda cliché (I've seen a lot of stories where someone's a cat :S) Well, it was either cat or squirrel, and I think cat works better :)

To Shadow Shinkenger - :) back at you

To HarunaNiwa073 & DemonWitchCat: Really? Thanks! :D

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3: A History Lesson**

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Upon hearing his name, Kukai looked from the ground he was previously facing. As he looked up, he realized who had yelled his name. "Uh... hi Ikuto," he said nervously.

Stepping out of Tsukasa's house, Ikuto retorted, "Yeah, hi." His voice sounded harsh and stern, like a mother who was about to ground her child. "What the hell are you doing here!? And don't try getting out of it, either."

Ikuto had a scowl on his face as he waited expectantly. Then, Amu—who remained inside the house when Tsukasa opened the door—walked in and asked, "What's going on out there?"

She stood at Tsukasa's side as Ikuto and Kukai turned to face her. Amu spotted Kukai and said, "Oh, it's you."

Her face looked somewhat uninterested, and Kukai looked confused and was about to say something to Amu until he saw Ikuto giving him a look. One that meant he obviously expected him to explain himself first. He took a deep breath before turning to Ikuto.

"Well," he began. "After you left to see who sent the text, I kinda wanted to see if it was Saaya, and if it was, I wanted to see you tell her off. So I followed you. After that I heard the whole thing with the cat, and when the portal thing opened, I jumped into to follow you. I got passed the woods and stuff, but when you came here I had to hide so you wouldn't see me. When I tried to find a secret way in, I tripped and hit my head on this rock which is when you guys found me."

Finally, exhausted from the explanation, he exhaled deeply. "Wow. And you said Saaya was the stalker," Ikuto teased.

They both burst into laughter before a thought came to Kukai. "So who sent the message anyway?"

Ikuto turned to Amu, who shook her head. "I wasn't the one who sent the message," she said, but it did make my job easier."

"Then who did?"

Suddenly Ikuto felt his phone vibrate with a short tone following. _New message_, it read. He raised an eyebrow, "I didn't know my phone could get messages in different worlds."

Nonetheless, he flipped it open. A message appeared from the same sender as earlier.

_To: Ikuto  
From: Unknown Sender_

_Ikutooooooo! Where are you? I'm waiting at the park!_

_- Saaya _

Everyone was at a loss of words. All except Kukai, of course. "HA! I knew it was her!"

At that, Ikuto had to laugh. In the midst of their hysterical laughter, Ikuto took a short glance at the screen, noticing the time indicated at the bottom of the message. Kukai noticed where Ikuto's gaze led and followed it only to see that the message was sent... 3 minutes after the first message.

And Kukai was the first to say anything, as usual. "Daaaaaaaaamn! That girl is..."

"Persistent?" guessed Ikuto.

"_Sure_..." Kukai murmured, in full knowledge of the fact that _persistent_ wasn't the word he was going for.

Before any further conversation between the teenaged boys, Tsukasa spoke up, "Well, know that we know who sent you the message, let's all get inside, shall we?"

Very quietly, but loud enough for the rest to hear, Amu said, "I was only supposed to get Ikuto, not him, but oh well."

"Oh yeah," Ikuto commented upon hearing Amu's remark. "Why did you need me, of all people?"

Then Tsukasa stepped in. "I'm sure we can explain everything if everyone could just come inside."

Everyone agreed as they followed him back into the house. Kukai and Ikuto sat on a realistically star-patterned sofa that Tsukasa brought in, while Amu sat on a separate green floral printed armchair that was already in the room earlier. "Alright then, now that everyone's comfortable, I shall explain. Let's start with the situation regarding Amu's comment," Tsukasa proclaimed.

He began as everyone nodded in conformity. "Ikuto, you were brought here because of a special ability you possess. Of course, now that I look at the situation, your friend has it as well. Though your presence is required more."

"What special ability?" Ikuto questioned.

Tsukasa responded, "Well, it's fairly hard to explain, but I'll try. Every person has something about themselves that they want to change or improve. From that desire, an egg is born. Each egg contains a character—your would-be self. Since everyone has something they'd like to be, everyone has a character, known as a Shugo Chara. Unfortunately, not everyone has unlocked it, most likely because they rejected it."

Tsukasa paused and Ikuto and Kukai were listening attentively. Then he continued. "This world that you are in is full of people that have unlocked their Shugo Chara."

"So you're saying that I have a Shugo Chara?" asked Ikuto.

Nodding, Tsukasa added, "Indeed. In this world, regardless of age, everyone has the ability to utilise the powers of their Shugo Chara, be it through a character change or character transformation. You will learn more of it in time. You, Ikuto, and possibly you as well," he gestured to Kukai before continuing, "may have this ability."

"Okay," Ikuto began, "but it doesn't exactly explain why you specifically needed me."

Tsukasa chuckled and said, "It will be clear to you once I finish." Ikuto nodded and allowed him to continue. "Well, everyone used to live together in one world, both those who had and hadn't unlocked their Charas. Unfortunately those who didn't either grew jealous of them or thought they were crazy. The ones that grew jealous coveted their Charas, but were unable to earn them as their desires weren't sincere. All this caused many riots between the two... groups."

Ikuto was listening intently, waiting for him to continue. Even Kukai Amu looked fascinated, but Amu in more of the sense that she were listening to her favourite being retold. Tsukasa continued once again, "There was one man that decided that the riots should come to an end. The man's name was Elaien. He was a powerful, but very poor man with two Charas. He was a very courageous man to do what he did. Elaien decided that to put a stop to the evil, he would have to use his own power."

"He believed he needed to divide the ones with and without Charas into separate worlds, away from each other. Elaien was able to do this, seeing as if he combined power with his Charas, he could do quite a lot. But in doing this, he would have to sacrifice his and his Charas life. He created the two worlds but only had enough power left to erase the memories of those without Charas. They forgot everything that happened before that. Even anything they ever created. From then on, everyone continued life in their own worlds, one world starting anew and the other living with the knowledge of Elaien's bravery."

Tsukasa ended his story there, leaving Ikuto sitting there, intrigued by the story but puzzled as to what the point of telling it was. "Um... that was a really interesting story, but what does it have to do with me?"

"Ah," Tsukasa said. "Before Elaien died, he and his wife had three children, a son and two daughters. All of them inherited Elaien's powers, which continued to be passed down through each generation or his descendants."

"Still don't get it," Ikuto said flatly.

A chuckle escaped Tsukasa's lips. Amu decided to answer this time. "Don't you get it? You're one of Elaien's descendants!" Her face, although appearing impassive showed a series of unreadable expressions.

The words that came out of Amu's mouth left Ikuto dumbfounded. Him, a descendant of an incredibly powerful man that created the mortal and chara world? He couldn't believe it. "What?" was the first thing that came out of his mouth. "How can that be? Even if I am like you guys, how could I be descended from this guy? You said that his descendants inherited his power, and I don't have any."

"That is where you are wrong," Tsukasa responded. "You indeed have inherited his power, you just haven't unlocked it, nor have you learned to control it."

"And how will I do that?" This whole situation had Ikuto utterly perplexed.

Tsukasa paused thoughtfully for a moment. "You will train under the instruction of a mentor."

"Like who? You?" Ikuto inquired.

"No. Amu shall be your mentor." Tsukasa replied, smiling brightly as if his idea were absolutely brilliant. Ikuto registered what he had just said. Amu had the same expression on her face from earlier, what he said didn't appear to affect her in any way. It did, however, affect Ikuto. Amu had seemed to be an impatient, uncaring, lazy girl since he met her, and now she was going to be his mentor? He couldn't believe it.

Ikuto was about to protest, but decided against it. If he was to learn how to control his so-called powers, he needed to suck it up and let Amu teach him whatever he needed to know. Tsukasa smiled, as if he knew exactly what Ikuto was thinking. Suddenly, it occurred to Ikuto that they were leaving something out.

"If I'm really descended from this guy . . . does that mean that one of my parents was too?" His voice sounded cautious, if not a bit shaky, as if he wasn't sure whether he wanted to know.

Tsukasa's smile unexpectedly became quite solemn as he replied, "Yes. That is true."

"Who?" For some reason it took quite a bit of willpower just to say that word clearly. The response that Ikuto received from Tsukasa was one that caused his mind to fill with questions.

"Your father."

Ikuto was at a loss of words. His father was a descendant if Elaien? Why didn't he tell him? Did that fact have anything to do with his disappearance? His mind was swirling with thoughts that confused him so. Tsukasa noticed this and decided to explain.

"As I said, your father was a descendant of Elaien. He was just as powerful as you are, and even learned to control his powers with the help of a mentor and his chara. The two of you descended from his son and therefore are pure descendants of Elaien. He didn't tell you this because he wanted to tell you at the right time. Unfortunately he did not get the chance to do so . . ."

Still quite shocked at the fact presented to him, Ikuto asked a single question he'd been wondering since that day four years ago. "How did my dad die?"

Tsukasa looked unsure of whether or not to tell him, but said, "Four years ago, an evil power was attempting to steal from Elaien's shrine, where his soul was kept. You may think that is a bit odd, but when Elaien died, his soul remained in the form of a beautiful jewel that keeps the balance of the two worlds. A group of people stood up to the challenge of stopping that from happening, and Aruto was among them, in fact one of the first to volunteer."

"He died destroying the leader of the group trying to steal the Soul stone. He killed the leader and forced the rest to flee, but he was too badly injured battling that he died shortly afterwards . . ." Tsukasa trailed off.

"Oh. I see," Ikuto said, sorrow clouding his eyes. Tsukasa opened his mouth to comfort him but Ikuto's next words silenced him.

"It's fine. I'm proud that my dad did something like that and I hope I can be as brave as he was. Knowing what you just told me will make me more determined, it won't make me go into a depression."

He grinned, a true grin, proving his words as Tsukasa couldn't help but smile as well, bowing his head shortly afterwards.

Amu however, looked upset, though Ikuto couldn't imagine why. Why would she be upset over an issue involving _his_ dad? It didn't have anything to do with her. Nonetheless, Amu quickly spoke up, "I'm going to be at the field by the Hakken house." She turned to Ikuto, "Meet me there for training. Tsukasa will show you the way."

Calmly, she left, the door slamming behind her. Ikuto slumped down slightly. "Ugh," he groaned. Tsukasa walked over to him with his usual smile in place and said, "I sense you hold some hostility towards Amu."

Ikuto looked down, not in a nod, but merely to avert his gaze. "Amu is not a bad person you know. She has been through a lot," Tsukasa tried to assure.

"Like what?" Ikuto questioned, turning to face him.

"That, my boy, is something that you should hear from her, not me. Some things are best if told from another person."

Ikuto listened attentively, a quiet "alright" escaping his lips. "Amu is very advanced in her work with Charas and no longer attends school, as she finds it much too dull. Especially since she's learned it already from me. I'm not saying she is an academic genius, though she is rather bright, just a master at working with her Charas and battling."

The more he said, the more disbelief Ikuto felt. He never thought that a girl like Amu would be anything like that. "Since she's so great at her . . . work, is that why she's so arrogant?"

Tsukasa seemed to think that he was joking. "Amu, arrogant? She may seem very offensive, irresponsible and act like she doesn't care about anything, but she is really none of those things, especially not arrogant."

Ikuto shot a look of doubt at him. "It is true. When you get a chance to get to know her better, you will see," Tsukasa said as Ikuto sighed. He quickly added, "Speaking of which, I think it's about time you begin training. I may accidentally say too much, and its best you hear from Amu."

Ikuto nodded and was about to ask where the Hakken house was before Tsukasa said, "You do not have to worry about getting to your destination. I will transport you to the Hakken House and from there you will venture east. The field she wishes to meet you at is at the other side of an old forest. People no longer visit it. Now come here."

The two walked over to a small round platform on the ground. It looked fairly minimalistic, but at the same time very high tech. Along the edges of the platform were tiny arrangements of lights and buttons. Tsukasa gestured for him to step on the platform, to which he agreed.

Before he knew it, Ikuto was being transported to the Hakken House.

* * *

**A/N:** Yeah, this chapter was kinda hard to write, 'cause I tried to get it to fit the whole Chara theme. So sorry if I didn't exactly do that well.

Don't ask about Elaien's name... I couldn't think of anything else..

Review :D

OH and tell me if I mixed up some names, 'cause I forgot to check.


	4. Your Would Be Self

**A/N:** Sorry it took kinda long to update.

Thanks to those who reviewed, favourite and alerted; especially the one who sent me my first piece of concrit (well, on this story)! :D

But I'll talk about that later.

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Chapter Four: Meet the Would-be Selves

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In flashes of blue and white, Ikuto found himself in what was probably his destination. He looked around to take in his surroundings, only to see a small wooden house that seemed to only contain a room or two. In front of it was a sign that read: _Hakken House._

_So that's what the Hakken House is, _thought Ikuto. He averted his gaze from the sign to a forest a good distance away from it. From the Hakken House, Ikuto could see that Tsukasa was right. The forest _was_ old and abandoned.

He stepped closer to get a better look at the trees. Their greyish colour and partially blackened leaves made the trees appear lifeless; causing Ikuto to wonder what brought them into such a state. When he came before the woods, he realized that it wasn't as thick as he once thought. Instead of a deep forest stretching far and wide, it seemed much more like a wall of trees about two layers thick or so.

He crossed the forest slowly, taking a few moments between each step to look at the finer details of some trees. The trees were like oak and willow trees, with thick trunks. If they were people, Ikuto was sure they'd be pretty wrinkly. After a while, he made it through the trees.

His eyes needed a small amount of time to adjust as the bright light of the other side came a bit fast, but soon he saw the environment ahead of him. The field was plain, no plant life besides the tall patches of grass closer to the wall of trees. As he looked around, he couldn't see Amu anywhere. The place was empty, almost barren if not for the forest and grass, which was only found on one side of the field.

Ikuto decided to explore and headed towards the patches of grass. He parted the grass as he walked; the grass occasionally brushed his face leaving a tingly feeling. When he got to the end of the grass he saw someone there: Amu.

He was quite surprised to see Amu in that state. She was crouched down over a small pond that was appeared to have been hidden by the grass. Her hand was reached out toward a group of ducks, a pile of what looked like berries upon it.

The strangest thing about the sight in front of Ikuto was the fact that Amu was smiling. Sure, it was natural for a person to smile, but Ikuto had never imagined her to do so. At least not like she was at that moment. Her smile was like a young child's: innocent and pure. Seeing her smile like that made him rethink everything he thought about her before.

She didn't look uncaring, lazy, annoyed or even arrogant. Just like a regular girl, if not nicer. Amu noticed Ikuto's presence and looked his way. Her smile faded almost instantly. "You finally got here," Amu stated in the same composed tone of voice she'd used earlier.

Ikuto shrugged, "Yeah. Sorry I took so long. I was talking with Tsukasa."

"It's fine," she said, not bothering to ask what they spoke about. Then Amu remembered something and quickly added, "Oh and there's one thing I have to tell you."

The boy in front of her raised an eyebrow but allowed her to continue. The two words to come out of her mouth surprised him quite a bit.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" he asked.

"Well," she began, "I was extremely rude to you, even though you hadn't done anything offensive to me. So I'd like to apologize and also explain."

Ikuto motioned for her to continue as she said, "The reason for my behaviour is that I was jealous."

"_Jealous_?" he repeated. "Why would _you_ be jealous of _me_?"

"I was jealous because even though you're just like me, you were able to remain in the other world and live there."

"But you visited my world earlier."

"That was on a mission. It was the only mission I had that allowed me to travel to your world, and I wasn't able to explore or do anything I'd liked to."

"I don't really get why you think my world is so interesting."

"Well I don't understand why my world, and many others, fascinates humans, so we're even."

Ikuto smiled lightly, but it turned into a slightly concerned look when Amu added, "My dad promised to bring me to your world a while before he left. The day before he was supposed to come back from his work and take me there, I received news that he died. "

"Is that what Tsukasa meant?" Ikuto interrupted, causing Amu to shoot a perplexed look at him. He continued, "Uh, before I came here, I was talking to Tsukasa and he said you'd been through a lot. Is that what he meant?"

Amu contemplated the thought for a second. "I think he was referring to the fact that my mom died after I was born and my dad died four years ago in battle so starting when I was eight I had to live without parents."

"Your father died _four years ago_?"

"Yeah . . ." Amu confirmed looking at him as if he hadn't been paying attention at all. Then suddenly she understood. "It was the same time your dad died, right?"

Ikuto nodded numbly as Amu said, "My father and yours were friends. They both fought the same battle to defend the magic world. Hopefully we can be as they were."

Then a thought occurred to Amu, "Minus the dead part, of course.

Ikuto laughed a little, before Amu stood up. "We still have some stuff to do, so we'd better get moving."

Her smile returned once again as she led Ikuto out of the tall grass and back into the field. "So, where are we supposed to be going?" he inquired.

"To the Hakken House," she replied simply.

Remembering the small wooden house from before, Ikuto asked, "You mean that little house I saw when I got here?"

The pink-haired girl racked her brain for what he could've been talking about, until realization hit her. "Oh, that old thing? Nah, we just use that to mislead newcomers and intruders. It was Tsukasa's idea."

'_No wonder he transported me here,'_ thought Ikuto.

"So where's the real Hakken House?" he asked.

Amu stopped to gesture before her, "Here."

Looking in front of Amu, Ikuto saw what she was talking about. There stood a huge mansion, not unlike the versions built in the nineteenth century. There had to have been at least three levels to it, from what he could see. Even the gardens surrounding the structure were amazing. After letting him have his moment of staring in awe, Amu walked toward the mansion's entrance, expecting Ikuto to follow suit.

Just as Ikuto suspected, the mansion also had some forms of security; though probably much more than the ones he could see. As he and Amu neared the building, he noticed that barbed wires sheltered the premises, as did the dogs on the other side. He couldn't exactly see them, but their barks and growls grew louder with each step he took.

Amu stopped before a small mechanism attached to the wall of the entrance. She clicked a small blue button and spoke into a small microphone, "Hinamori Amu."

Instantly the device emitted a red light, scanning Amu. A faint _click w_as heard as she pushed the door open with ease. They entered what looked like the foyer of the house; a large (and most likely expensive) crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling while two staircases led up to a double door across the hall. Hallways leading to separate rooms were also present, along with many interior decorations that seemed to mould modern and vintage styles together.

"Daaamn . . ." Ikuto mumbled in wonder.

This time, Amu didn't wait to let him analyze the room, and headed toward the flight of stairs to her right, moving toward the door farthest on that end. Soon enough, Ikuto followed as well, into the rightmost corridor. There were several more doors; so much so, that it seemed nearly endless. The fact that Amu seemed intent on getting to the end of the hall didn't exactly prove him wrong.

After reaching the end of the hall, Ikuto discovered that there was another, smaller set of steps on the left side of the door. They went up the steps and traveled to the third door on the left of that particular corridor. Above the door was a sign that read "The Nest". Never in his life had Ikuto ever encountered a room called a nest. His own house had a conservatory, a library, a game room, but no nest. His curiosity grew as Amu turned the oval-shaped doorknob.

The door opened to reveal a room similar to a nursery. The walls were decorated in an outdoor theme. The walls closer to the floor were painted to look like a nest on a tree branch while the rest looked like the sky on a spring morning. Lining the walls of the room were small beds very similar to baby cribs, but as Ikuto drew near, he noticed that there weren't any infants in the cribs; instead, there were eggs.

There were about ten or so in every crib, each one decorated differently, like the eggs you paint for Easter. There were eggs that had musical patterns, academic designs, natural textures and many other variations that Ikuto could hardly begin to describe.

"Why'd you bring me here?" he asked.

Amu turned to him briefly before walking toward one of the cribs in the middle. Ikuto moved toward it as well, afterward having Amu reach into the crib and bring out an egg.

The egg was entirely black and white. The top and bottom of it were black, with a zigzagged strip of white down the middle. On the zigzagged section in the middle were silhouettes of cat heads. Overall, it looked like an egg that was black on the outside and white on the inside hatching to reveal black cats.

"This," Amu said, holding the egg out to Ikuto, "is why I brought you here. We came for your would-be self."

Before he could ask anything, the egg shifted around in Amu's hands. "What's it doing?" questioned Ikuto.

"It's about to hatch. It was born about three years ago."

"Well, if the egg was born that long ago, why hasn't it hatched yet?"

"A heart's egg can't hatch unless the owner is ready for it. The owner must also be present for it to hatch. You were ready the same year it was born, but the egg was here, away from you."

The egg moved even more vigorously with each passing second until it began to crack right down the middle of the egg. The upper half of the egg broke off and in the blink of an eye, something came out of the egg and right in front of his face.

"This is your Shugo Chara," Ikuto heard Amu say.

His Shugo Chara had shaggy indigo hair and golden cat-like eyes. Two furry cat ears protruded from his head, and he had paws to match his hair and ears. He even had a long tail as well. He wore a black shirt and shorts with a silver stud belt around his waist and a cross on his shirt.

Enthusiastically, the Chara raised its paw in a waving gesture and said, "Hey Ikuto ~ nya! I'm Yoru ~ nya!"

Ikuto smiled lightly at his Chara. "So you're my would-be self, huh? 'Wonder why you're a cat," he murmured, loud enough for Yoru to hear him.

"I represent your desire to be free ~ nya!"

"Free from what?"

"That's for you to figure out ~ nya," teased Yoru.

Ikuto let out a quiet laugh before turning to Amu, "So now what?"

* * *

**A/N:** Hopefully this was okay... _hopefully_.

By the way, do Ikuto and Amu seem OOC to you?

And, continuing from the a/n at the beginning of the chapter, a big thanks goes to Mickey, my not-so-anonymous reviewer who gave me some constructive criticism!

_To Mickey_: Yes, I remember you :D And yes, I have realized that Saaya's message appearing at that exact moment was highly implausible. That bit was based off a suggestion from a reviewer, and since I don't like directly using other people's ideas (I feel bad), I tried to incorporate it somewhere into the chapter. I made a (fairly bad) attempt to fix that part, but if it doesn't work with the story, I can just scrap it.

Soooo... be like Mickey & review! Preferably with suggestions for improving the story :D

I also made a new poll, so don't forget to check that out, too!


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